Losing insurance and psychiatric hospitalizations

Johanna Catherine Maclean, Daniel Tello-Trillo and Douglas Webber

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2023, vol. 205, issue C, 508-527

Abstract: We study the effect of losing insurance on psychiatric - mental health disorder (MHD) and substance use disorder (SUD) - hospital-based care. Psychiatric disorders cost the U.S. over $1T each year and hospitalizations provide important and valuable care for patients with these disorders. We use variation in public insurance coverage (Medicaid) eligibility offered by a large-scale and unexpected disenrollment in the state of Tennessee in 2005 that lead to 190,000 individuals losing their insurance. Medicaid enrollees are at elevated risk for psychiatric disorders. Following the disenrollment, hospitalizations for SUDs declined by 15.4%. Findings suggest that MHD hospitalizations declined by 4.2%, but the coefficient estimate is imprecise. The expected financing of hospital care received also changed, with the probability that Medicaid was listed as the expected payer for MHD and SUD hospitalizations declining by 27.5% and 30.8% respectively post-disenrollment. We provide suggestive evidence that psychiatric health declined post-disenrollment.

Keywords: Healthcare; Insurance; Mental health disorders; Substance use disorders (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I1 I11 I18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Losing insurance and psychiatric hospitalizations (2022)
Working Paper: Losing Insurance and Psychiatric Hospitalizations (2019)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:205:y:2023:i:c:p:508-527

DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2022.11.001

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